Great Mosque of Banten, Banten Province, Indonesia. (Wibowo Djatmiko Wie146, Creative Commons)
SURABAYA, Indonesia (Morning Star News) – Officials in Indonesia sealed a prayer hall on Saturday (April 19), prohibiting the congregation from celebrating Easter, according to local sources.
Citing a lack of permit – though officials have failed to respond to a church application filed since 2023 – six Tangerang Regency staff members sealed shut the doors of the Thessalonica Ecumenical Christian Communion (Persekutuan Oikumene Umat Kristen, POUK) Prayer House about 16 miles from Jarkarta in Tukang Kajang, Kampung Melayu Timur village, Teluk Naga Subdistrict, Tangerang Regency, Banten Province in western Java, various sources reported.
A yellow banner on the main door of the prayer hall later appeared stating, “This Building is No Longer in Use,” according to BBC.com.
A member of the congregation identified only as Nirmala told BBC.com that the sealing transformed the joy of the Easter celebration into a sad event that continues to haunt her and her fellow Christians.
“We used to celebrate Easter together – all of us, the children. Joking around,” Nirmala said before suddenly breaking into tears. “Now we don’t get that anymore. [Now] there is constant fear, constant fear. Especially now that our prayer house has been given a ‘yellow’ [sign] again.”
Zamzam Manogara, head of Teluk Naga Subdistrict, stated that the Tangerang Regency Office sealed the site.
“We have no authority to carry out the sealing,” Zamzam told BBC.com. “It was not us who sealed it, but the Tangerang Regency Office.”
Zamzam said his subdistrict had provided its office space as a place of worship, though he failed to mention that it would require a permit and that officials have failed to respond to church leaders’ application for it.
“We have provided a place for our brothers to worship in the subdistrict office hall – not only for Easter but also for Sunday worship,” he reportedly said.
POUK Tesalonika Pastor Michael Siahaan said the prayer hall site was sealed because he did not attend a meeting with Teluk Naga Subdistrict officials that day as it was scheduled during Easter celebrations, according to kaltimpost.id.
“Surprisingly, at 17:30 the police came to my house bringing a response letter from the subdistrict head,” Pastor Michael said, according to kaltimpost.id. “And exactly at 18:00, our building was sealed.”
The pastor confirmed to Morning Star News that local officials had offered district hall space for worship last year – contingent on obtaining permission –after a group of Muslims demanded the complete shutdown of the church site on March 30, 2024.
The subdistrict offered the district hall for worship on April 28, 2024 contingent on permission but has failed to respond to permission applications submitted on May 9, 2024, Dec. 24-25, 2024 and April 15, he said.
“Because there was no response to our April 15 letter, we initiated the celebration of Good Friday at the POUK Prayer House because we have the letter of National Comision on Human Rights (Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia) that affirmed our freedom to worship,” Pastor Michael told Morning Star News.
The subdistrict hall is not ideal for worship, he added.
“The hall is dirty and shabby and lies directly opposite the mosque,” he said. “The distance is only about eight meters with the door facing the mosque. You can imagine the situation.”
The church submitted an application for a building permit on July 6, 2023, but local officials have never responded, Pastor Michael said.
No permission is required for the congregation to use the prayer hall that was sealed, he said.
“A prayer house can be equated with a prayer room in Islam, and therefore does not require a building permit,” Pastor Michael told Morning Star News.
Indonesian rights activist Permadi Arya, known as Abu Janda, wrote in 2023 that according to The Joint Decree of the Two Ministers, Chapter 1, Article 3, only a church building requires a construction permit.
“Holding worship at home, shop-houses and cafes needs no permission,” he said.
Such homes, cafés, and shop-houses can be equated with Muslim traditional prayer rooms (musholla), and since Muslims need no permission for those, Christians should receive equal treatment, he said.
The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), a Non-Governmental Organization dedicated to defending disadvantaged groups, stated on its Instagram account (lbh_jakarta) that it regretted the sealing.
“The right to worship safely and comfortably is an inherent right for all religious communities,” LBH posted. “Administrative recognition procedures therefore should not undermine the total protection of this human right.”
LBH Jakarta promised to accompany the Thessalonika congregation in worship.
Islamic extremists have used lack of building permits as a pretext for closing or attacking church sites since the passage of Indonesia’s Joint Ministerial Decree of 2006, which made requirements for obtaining such license permits nearly impossible for most new congregations.
Even when small, new churches were able to meet the requirement of obtaining 90 signatures of approval from congregation members and 60 from area households of different religions, they have often met with delays or lack of response from officials.
Indonesian society has adopted a more conservative Islamic character, and churches involved in evangelistic outreach are at risk of being targeted by Islamic extremist groups, according to Open Doors.
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- Great Mosque of Banten, Banten Province, Indonesia. (Wibowo Djatmiko Wie146, Creative Commons)
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